Rafael Vaganian
Rafael Vaganian | |
---|---|
Full name | Rafael Artemovich Vaganian |
Country | Soviet Union → Armenia |
Born | Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union | 15 October 1951
Title | Grandmaster (1971) |
FIDE rating | 2452 (April 2024) |
Peak rating | 2670 (January 2005) |
Peak ranking | No. 4 (January 1985) |
Rafael Artemovich Vaganian (Armenian: Ռաֆայել Արտյոմի Վահանյան, Rrafayel Artyomi Vahanyan, Russian: Рафаэль Артёмович Ваганян, Rafael Artemovich Vaganyan; born 15 October 1951) is an Armenian chess player holding the title of grandmaster (GM). He was Soviet champion in 1989.
Chess career
Vaganian achieved his
His international tournament record includes victories at
At
He was twice a world championship candidate, losing out to Andrei Sokolov in 1986 and to Lajos Portisch in 1988. It is estimated that he has won in excess of thirty tournaments in all, and in 2004, tied for first place in the Moscow's Aeroflot Open, one of Russia's premier events.[1]
In January 2005, his
Team competitions
Over the years, Vaganian has won many medals in team competition, representing the Soviet Union and then Armenia in the Olympiads[3] and European Team Chess Championships.[4] In 1974, he was board one for the USSR team at the World Student Team Championship at Teesside, scoring 10/11 and taking the board one prize.[5] Most recently, he took team bronze and individual gold for best performance on board three at the 2004 Calvia Olympiad.[6]
Playing style
In 1985, Alexey Suetin described Vaganian as a player with great natural gifts. Having played with him a number of times, Suetin sensed the Armenian's great powers of intuition: "He has a fine feeling of the dynamics of a chess battle and knows how to intensify the play at the right moment. He does not always calculate variants thoroughly, relying on his natural chess flair." Of Vaganian's volatile ideas at the chessboard, Suetin added: "...The feeling of fear or uncertainty is unknown to him. He is a perpetual optimist, full of ambitious intentions at every stage in every game, with an explosive temperament..."
References
- ^ Ilandzis, Spyridon (19 March 2004). "The Aeroflot Chess Festival revisited". Chess News. ChessBase. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- ^ Cmiel, Thorsten (29 November 2019). "Adventures in Bucharest: the World Senior Championship 2019". Chess News. ChessBase. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- ^ Bartelski, Wojciech. "Men's Chess Olympiads: Rafael Vaganian". OlimpBase. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ Bartelski, Wojciech. "European Men's Team Chess Championship: Rafael Vaganian". OlimpBase. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ Bartelski, Wojciech. "World Student Team Chess Championship: Rafael Vaganian". OlimpBase. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ Bartelski, Wojciech. "36th Chess Olympiad, Calvia 2004, Armenia". OlimpBase. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
Further reading
- Chess Magazine– Christmas 1985, pg.257, Alexey Suetin article.
- ISBN 0-19-217540-8.
- Cafferty, Bernard & ISBN 1-85744-201-6.
External links
- 'New In Chess' article Archived 31 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Rafael Vaganian player profile and games at Chessgames.com
- Rafael A. Vaganian chess games at 365Chess.com
- Grandmaster Games Database – Rafael Vaganian